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Memoirs of a Beatnik Diane di Prima Books

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Memoirs of a Beatnik Diane di Prima Books

So its porno. Whatever. That's why I read it. The background of 50's New York is well written. Her description using all the senses isn't obnoxiously verbose like some boring wordsmiths. Maybe the pornography was added for marketing, I don't know. But it went well with her squalid living, listening to good music, eating and drinking, and hanging with her interesting misfit coterie. Even though this is a fictional memoir, I just know her real youth makes my teenage years in high school seem dull.


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Memoirs of a Beatnik Diane di Prima Books Reviews

a recent article on diane diprima in the chicago tribune (4/19/2000) called di prima's "memoirs of a beatnik" - "a sort of insider's Beat exploitation book Di Prima wrote in 1968 for Maurice Girodias' Olympia Press in Paris because she needed money badly--and quickly." It goes on to state that "It is mostly accurate, [di prima] said, except for the sex parts."
with that said, i doubt the book aspires to make any type of high-brow feminist or literary statement. the fact that is does make any such statement can be attributed to the time in which it was written. it is basically an account of a young woman venturing out on her own in times when young women did not do such things. young women lived at home, maybe went away to college, met a nice suitable young man, and got married. maybe had a job as a typist in the meantime. sex was not something young women from nice families experimented with.
this is not to say the book does not have its merits. it is artfully written, intelligent, and poetic. it's a great look at the obstacles women faced when they decided to do their own thing, especially when that differed from society's norms. it's a peek inside the counterculture that was growing larger and larger thanks to a certain jack kerouac. all of this raises the book above being just plain old erotica. as a fan of beat writing and culture, i enjoyed the book very much.
of course, the drawback to this book is that someone reading this book without knowledge of the context in which it was published will come away from it with a view of the beats that is as cartoonish and two-dimensional as the rest of society's view was of them at the time. "oh wow, look, the beats were always having sex." - "oh yeah, man, that's what they were about. coffee, sex, and alcohol. (and bongos and poetry and black berets)"
maybe that's why the title of this book is "memoirs of a beatnik," and not "memoirs of a beat." major difference.
This is low grade pornography. Nothing at all like the people I remember from those days.

You might try " Minor Characters" by Joyce Johnson for something closer to reality.
Listen, if you're looking for a historic autobiography, this isn't the book. I read Carolyn Cassady's "Off the Road" and was expecting something like that. DiPrima is an incredible writer, and provides what might be a significant historical snapshot of sexual revolution, but it's in a completely different vein. She'd make "Penthouse letters" blush with this stuff. An awesome read. I read the whole thing in one sitting. Do not read in public. You'll feel like everyone is staring at you.
Everything a beat junkie could ever want and then some. Sometimes you are or you aren't. You do or you don't. Why not? Because f-ing why not?
I liked it. A good read over all. If you are easily offended then this is not for you. Or maybe it is? If you think morality belongs in the editing room then again this is especially written for you.
If you've come here looking for answers go find you're own.
Reread this after 20 years and love it even more!
When I ordered this book I expected it to be nothing more than a slightly cleaned up recital of the beat life. My uncles told me how it was growing up about this time. They didn't tell me about this aspect of the beat life. At first I thought, this book is mere porno until I realized that this was just one facet of the beat life. An aspect that every generation has to deal with. No different, no better or no worse in learning on the run. A good book, if one to keep away from the kiddies.
What a wonderful, freeing narrative of a young woman living without the usual inhibitions we carry.
Not a word about a career path, nothing about keeping up with anything, except literature.
I hope not too much of this was fiction and that she really lived this way. It shows us the potential of what we can be. Sex at it's most passionate and raw, and sensual. And love too, her willingness to follow her heart, even when it was to desire a skinny dirty anxious junkie on a dirty floor. Even when he broke her heart she went on loving. Recommended to all and should be required reading in high school. Thank you Diane.
So its porno. Whatever. That's why I read it. The background of 50's New York is well written. Her description using all the senses isn't obnoxiously verbose like some boring wordsmiths. Maybe the pornography was added for marketing, I don't know. But it went well with her squalid living, listening to good music, eating and drinking, and hanging with her interesting misfit coterie. Even though this is a fictional memoir, I just know her real youth makes my teenage years in high school seem dull.